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Twitch streamer MissMikkaa is playing Elden Ring with an actual guitar

Malenia? Don't fret about it.

Twitch streamer MissMikkaa plays Elden Ring with a guitar
Image credit: MissMikkaa/Twitch

It began with a one-armed run, defeating every Elden Ring boss with just one hand. Then Twitch streamer MissMikkaa did the same but kept her character at level one throughout.

Next she completed FromSoftware's epic with a dance pad. Then she did it across two games with a dance pad and controller simultaneously.

Now, she's taking her musical Elden Ring pursuits to a whole new level by playing the game with a guitar. Is there no end to MissMikkaa's talent?

Cover image for YouTube videoELDEN RING | Free Colosseum Update trailer
Elden Ring | Free Colosseum Update trailer

MissMikkaa is not the first person to play the game with a musical instrument: back in June last year plucky Tarnished Anna Ellsworth used her harp to defeat Margit.

Yet with her pedigree for bizarre control methods, MissMikkaa's guitar run is surely one to watch.

So how exactly does it work?

"I'm using a program called Abject Audio Inputs which can keybind mouse and keyboard inputs from audio frequencies," MissMikkaa told Eurogamer. "I have my guitar plugged directly into my goXLR [mixer] so that the software captures the audio from the guitar only. Then in the software itself I can see what frequency is being output from the guitar when I play it."

It took some experimenting to work out which notes, or chords, would work best.

Says MissMikkaa: "Originally my idea was to only use chords to play the game so it would be pleasant to listen to for the viewers, but I realised quickly that chords were complicated to play as it would detect multiple frequencies at once.

"Using single notes however was much more consistent. Therefore I isolated several chords which did not have overlapping frequencies and mixed them with single notes as actions in the game. I ended up with around seven chords and six notes, but this may change with time."

As a guitar player herself, playing Elden Ring as something of a bard using the instrument was seemingly a natural next step for her stream.

"I have played guitar for most of my life! It's always been a very casual hobby of mine that I don't share with too many. I've only ever showed my guitar a few times on my stream," she said.

It's certainly a finicky way to play the game. Watching her stream, MissMikkaa has had difficulties keeping her character under control. She described it as "the most inconsistent and hardest run so far", but at least there's some tuneful music along with the stream.

So far she's reached Rennala at the Raya Lucaria Academy, but what we're all waiting for - of course - is the inevitable guitar-off with Malenia.

"I'm definitely looking forward to charming Malenia with my tunes!" jokes MissMikkaa. "I think my strategy will be the same as every other run: perseverance. As for the in-game strategy itself, I'll probably go for something tanky with a side of aggression to break her stance. I'm sure once I'm fully adjusted to playing with a guitar, it'll be just like the other challenge runs, albeit a bit more inconsistent."

You can watch MissMikkaa's guitar run over on her Twitch channel.